Lana

A few more: Wang. Wang and outfielder Mike Vento, who was just so into it, it was hilarious. His pom-poms were being waved all over the place. The back of the shirts had "Robbie," "Mikey," and "Wanger."

Since when was Miguel Tejada...Mickey? :lol :lol I didn't even notice that, nice catch. I wonder if that's a typo in the story, or if the statement released by the Orioles Executive VP had that typo (how embarassing would that be for them). I didn't notice it either. I think it was a typo in the story. They changed it, so it now reads: "Miggy [Tejada] is cleared in any implication that he provided steroids to Palmeiro."

The B-12 thing sounded familiar to me. Then I realized where I had heard it from: Jose Canseco. From page 211 of his book: [Doing steroids] was so open, the trainers would jokingly call the steroids injections "B12 shots," and soon the players had picked up on that little code name, too. You'd hear them saying it out loud in front of each other: "I need to go in and get a B12 shot," a player would say and everyone would laugh. (Of course, this was the kind of joke you really only made around other steroid users, because obviously they were in the same boat as you ... ) It could just be a coincidence, but it struck me as weird.

ESPN: Rafael Palmeiro told baseball's arbitration panel that a vitamin he received from Baltimore Orioles teammate Miguel Tejada might have caused his positive test for steroid use. Palmeiro testified that he received B-12 from Tejada, a person familiar with the grievance hearing said Thursday on condition of anonymity because the proceedings were secret. However, Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie denied any Tejada involvement. "Mickey [Tejada] is cleared in any implication that he provided steroids to Palmeiro," Beattie said in a statement. "That was investigated by HHPAC [House Health Policy Advisory Committee], and just to be sure they tested the stuff that Mickey had. It was found to be the B-12. That cleared it. End of story." Beattie also said that Palmeiro would issue a statement later Thursday denying that he accused Tejada of giving him a substance that may have caused a positive steroids test. "Right now I'm in shock," Tejada, a former American League MVP, said after Baltimore lost to the New York Yankees on Thursday night. "I've never given anybody steroids before. I've been checked out three times already, and I'm clean. I've been clean all my life." Tejada said he gave Palmeiro the B-12 "a long time ago." "It doesn't bother me because I'm not guilty. I've done nothing wrong. I just gave him B-12, and B-12 is legal," Tejada said. "You don't get caught for B-12."

Yankees @ away The amount of money that I'm going to be spending on those tickets is probably going to be mind-boggling. And yet, I'm so thrilled. Woo!

Wow: OAKLAND -- When Jason Giambi found out that A's third base coach Ron Washington had lost both his house and his mother's house during Hurricane Katrina, he decided he wanted to help his old friend. Oakland players had already started collecting money to help their coach, putting together about $9,000 to start. Giambi more than doubled that himself, adding $20,000 to the fund. "Nothing surprises me about Jason; he's a very generous individual," Torre said. "He cares for people a great deal." Washington was Giambi's coach when he played for the A's, throwing batting practice to the former AL MVP on a regular basis. Giambi and Washington spoke briefly this weekend while the Yankees were in Oakland, and the conversation turned emotional. Washington, who has 16 relatives that fled New Orleans for Alabama after the storm, was very moved by Giambi's gesture. "I asked how his family was doing, because I know he's from that area, and he said they pretty much lost everything," Giambi said. "I've known Wash longer than most of those kids in that clubhouse, so it was something I felt I wanted to do. "He couldn't even speak; he couldn't stop crying," added Giambi. "He almost got me going. He's an incredible man. He was pretty choked up." More here (which also mentions the Marlins and their great contribution): The Oakland Athletics and former A's first baseman Jason Giambi have started up a collection for third-base coach Ron Washington, who lost his own house and his mother's in the hurricane, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Giambi gave $20,000 and the A's players had collected $9,000 with more expected for Washington, who was in search of housing for 16 relatives who evacuated New Orleans for Alabama, the paper said. "That was very nice," Washington said of the players' support. "Now, instead of looking at one apartment, we can get a couple. That was awesome. It's been a long time since I dropped tears, I never expected anything like this." Washington said he told Giambi his contribution was too much, but Giambi insisted. "That's the way Jason is," Washington told the paper. "He's a class act." Washington is to travel to Alabama on Tuesday to help his family, according to the paper, and rejoin the team in Texas on Friday.

He's made 4 starts - two of his appearances were in relief. But, yeah, he's been good - his worst outing was the 5.1 IP, 3 ER appearance against Texas when he first got called up. I don't know how exactly, as he wasn't exactly being a sparkling pitcher down in the minors this year. Maybe having Giambi there is convincing him he's back in high school.

First post here, don't kill the newbie. This is all because the Yankees are desperate for pitching. At this point, even the Yankees aren't so desperate for Leiter's pitching. Their rotation should be: Moose, Johnson, Wright (who is coming back tomorrow), Chacon, and Small, the latter which have done mighty well in the past few weeks. Heck, even Proctor, who is a relief pitcher, has done better than Leiter in his start/long relief games. Leiter should go into the bullpen. Yes, it's all nice and dandy that he has bonded with Joe Torre or whatever, but Torre's decision to leave him in the rotation and put Small in the bullpen is going to do more harm than good. Even when he does well, Leiter can't make it past the sixth, thus adding more burden to an already-tired bullpen. I like Leiter, but he doesn't belong in the rotation. It took McKeon 16 [long, tiring, mind-numbing] starts to slap him right out of the rotation. Maybe Torre will wait until a bullpen arm actually falls off while on the mound after one Leiter's 120 pitches/5 innings start before he realizes that the dude with the 4-0 record and 2.57 ERA, is the one that belongs in the rotation, even if he doesn't have "experience."